California bans the use of some e-voting machines

Ca. Sec. of State bans the use of some electronic voting machines. It is not …

Following the recommendation of election officials, California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified and banned the use of Diebold AcuVote-TSx voting machines in the November elections. The remaining machines used in 10 counties were also decertified, but instead of calling for an outright ban of all electronic voting machines, these machines can be recertified if they include a verifiable paper trail or a paper ballot option and certain security conditions are met. As of now, no voting machines that are certified in California provide a verifiable paper trail. Shelley has also asked the state's attorney general to pursue criminal and civil action against Diebold for installing uncertified software on machines that were used in primary elections.

"I came about this close to banning outright, decertifying outright, with no possibility of reprieve, the other 10 counties,'' said Shelley, holding his left thumb and index finger close to each other. "The reason I didn't is because I think the arguments the disabled community, non-English speaking voters and county election officials made in recent days were compelling.''

Many of the news stories circulating about the Secretary of State's decision are either misleading or wrong. Some news outlets are reporting that all electronic voting machines in California have been banned and others suggest that the machines will have paper receipts available in time for the November elections ? this is not true.

Although all touch-screen machines will have to produce voter-verified receipts by 2006 under rules already proposed by Shelley, no such machines are cleared for use in California, nor are any likely to be before Nov. 2.

The 10 counties with machines can comply with the ruling by providing the option of voting with paper ballots instead of using the electronic voting machines.? Many are praising the Secretary of State's decision as a step in the right direction, but it is likely that come Nov 2, no California voter who uses an electronic voting machine will receive a printed receipt that confirms their vote was accurately cast.?

The rulings on the decertification of AcuVote-TSx machines and the conditions for approval of other electronic voting machines can be found here and here (pdf).